South Australian teacher Wayne Jaeschke never thought he would end up homeschooling his third child.
But his daughter was just refusing to go to school, even after trying several different ones.
"The anxiety was probably the biggest thing behind the school refusal," Mr Jaeschke said.
"So it wasn't a not wanting to, it was really a not being able to situation."
Mr Jaeschke has great confidence in mainstream schools — his two older boys attend them — but he says they are mostly suited to neurotypical kids.
Noisy classrooms, timetables and teacher demands are not for everyone, because there is a "lack of agency" that "neurodiverse kids struggle with".
"I could see the impact it was having on her emotionally and on her wellbeing," Mr Jaeschke said of his daughter.
As a teacher, he has seen firsthand how schools are trying but struggling to adapt classrooms for some neurodiverse children.
He believes that is driving the huge growth in homeschooling, whereas a decade ago it was more of a "philosophical choice".
"The people coming into it — like our family — they're more driven to it out of necessity," Mr Jaeschke explained.
Education experts such as Rebecca English from the Queensland University of Technology estimates that the vast majority, about 80 per cent, of homeschoolers are "accidental" or even "unwilling".
"It's not actually a choice — they've run out of road," Dr English said.
She added that it is often because of bullying or neurodivergence or because the parents "see their child as a sort of square peg in a round hole".
Homeschooling not necessarily an easy path for families
Parents take time out of the workforce, have to learn how to teach and also navigate what can be quite complex red tape to even register for homeschooling, particularly in NSW.
A report last month by the NSW Auditor-General found parents are waiting 65 working days — or an entire school term — for homeschooling applications to be processed and the state government had failed to monitor student outcomes in alternative school settings with no set performance measures.
A spokesperson for the NSW Education Department said it will accept all the report's recommendations and it was already prioritising strengthening support for homeschooling families, after taking over the responsibility from the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) earlier this year.
In comparison, Dr English said systems in Queensland, the ACT and Victoria work better because they are "co-designed with parents", but overall support, regulation and oversight of homeschooling needs to be improved across the country.
"Departments of education don't really understand the issues faced by families that report feeling forced into home schooling," she said.
Dr English estimated 20 per cent of homeschool parents are teachers, which helps.
Mr Jaeschke said creating a curriculum has been relatively straightforward for him, but "without that education background, I think it's going to be a lot more challenging".
"They don't know how to navigate the bureaucracy of schools and homeschool applications and the rest of it. So they sort of go into it under-resourced and quite blind."
Brisbane mother Sandy Whiteman started homeschooling her two neurodivergent children about three years ago, due to bullying. She said she felt the school was not properly resourced to manage the needs of her children.
"I went through a very traumatic period," Ms Whiteman said.
"I now prioritise the mental health of my kids."
The children have now found their rhythm and Ms Whiteman, who was a stay-at-home mother, said homeschooling has been a powerful experience for all of them.
The family follows what is called the "unschooling" approach, where the children are not forced to follow a set curriculum but learn more through daily tasks, such as cooking and excursions.
"There are 10-15 types of curriculums and homeschooling styles," Ms Whiteman explained.
"Mine is more of a mix and match. The Queensland homeschooling department is super supportive and flexible. Every year we have to do reporting and follow the curriculum styles. We still cover off English, maths and science."
What's out there to help?
But a simple scroll of homeschooling Facebook pages reveals just how many questions parents have about curriculums, registering for homeschooling and assessments.
That is why there has been what Dr English calls an emerging "cottage industry" of homeschooling businesses, which helps parents navigate the homeschool system in their jurisdiction, build curriculums, teach and perform assessments.
They can range from relatively informal groups to something like a formal online private school, such as Crimson Global Academy.
The senior admissions officer at the academy, Alexander Cork, said, "We help parents meet the homeschooling requirements of their respective states and territories."
From there, students can be assessed for university entrance too.
He explained the academy caters for families across the country. But while it is registered as a school in New Zealand and the US, it cannot be registered here because our education system is state-based.
"So it varies state by state as to what the requirements are," he said.
"In some states and territories, it's just as simple as doing some kind of maths and English. But in a state like New South Wales it's usually a little bit more prescriptive."
He said most parents use the academy because "their child is either bored in school" or has "fallen through the cracks at school", often due to neurodiversity and bullying, and they feel they cannot be teachers themselves.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Education Minister Jason Clare said a meeting of education ministers last week agreed to a "national plan to address bullying … as recommended by the Anti-Bullying Rapid Review".
Part of that was a $10 million investment in anti-bullying initiatives in schools, and an awareness campaign.
The Commonwealth will also provide $4.3 billion to schools this year in disability loading to help support neurodiverse children.
